shut

American  

[shuht] / ʃʌt /

verb (used with object)

shut, shutting

1. to put (a door, cover, etc.) in position to close or obstruct.

   Antonyms:

   open

2. to close the doors of (often followed byup ).

   to shut up a shop for the night.

3. to close (something) by bringing together or folding its parts.

   Shut your book. Shut the window!

4. to confine; enclose.

   to shut a bird into a cage.

   Synonyms:

   cage, imprison, jail

5. to bar; exclude.

   They shut him from their circle.

   Synonyms:

   prohibit

6. to cause (a factory, school, etc.) to end or suspend operations, services, or business activity.

   He shut his store, sold his house, and moved away.

   We're shutting the office for two weeks in June.

7. to bolt; bar.

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verb (used without object)

shut, shutting

1. to become shut or closed; close.

adjective

1. closed; fastened up.

   a shut door.

2. Phonetics. checked.

noun

1. the act or time of shutting or closing.

2. the line where two pieces of welded metal are united.

verb phrase

1. shut off

   1. to stop the passage of (water, traffic, electricity, etc.); close off.

   2. to isolate; separate.

      an outpost almost completely shut off from civilization.

2. shut in

   1. to enclose.

   2. to confine, as from illness.

      She broke her leg in a fall and has been shut in for several weeks.

3. shut up

   1. to imprison; confine.

   2. to close entirely.

   3. Informal. to stop talking; become silent (often used as a rude command).

      Just sit down and shut up! I thought the neighbors would never shut up and let me sleep.

   4. Informal. to stop (someone) from talking; silence.

   5. Informal. (used to express disbelief or astonishment).

      You dated her in high school? Shut up!

4. shut down

   1. to close, especially temporarily; end or suspend operations, services, or business activity.

   2. to stop operating or stop the operation of (a machine).

      Did you remember to shut down your computer?

   3. Informal. Also shut down onupon to hinder; check; stop from doing or saying something.

      He appeared on the talk show to shut down his critics.

   4. Informal. to defeat or outdo.

      The team was able to shut down the offense.

   5. to settle over a place so as to envelop or darken it.

      The fog shut down rapidly.

5. shut of free of; rid of.

   He wished he were shut of all his debts.

6. shut out

   1. to keep from entering; exclude.

   2. to hide from view.

   3. to prevent (an opponent or opposing team) from scoring, as in a game of baseball.

shut British  

/ ʃʌt /

verb

1. to move (something) so as to cover an aperture; close

   to shut a door

2. to close (something) by bringing together the parts

   to shut a book

3. to close or lock the doors of

   to shut up a house

4. (tr; foll by in, out, etc) to confine, enclose, or exclude

   to shut a child in a room

5. (tr) to prevent (a business, etc) from operating

6. to ignore deliberately

7. 1. to refuse to think about

   2. to render impossible

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adjective

1. closed or fastened

noun

1. the act or time of shutting

2. the line along which pieces of metal are welded

3. slang to get rid of

shut Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing shut

• close (shut) down
• close (shut) one's eyes to
• close (shut) the door on
• keep one's mouth shut
• open and shut case
• put up or shut up

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Related Words

See close.

Other Word Forms

• half-shut adjective
• reshut verbreshut, reshutting
• unshut adjective

Etymology

Origin of shut

First recorded before 1000; Middle English s(c)hutten, s(c)hetten, s(c)hitten Old English scyttan “to bolt (a door)”; akin to shoot ¹

Example Sentences

In TV land, “The White Lotus” dominated with six nominations after nearly being shut out at September’s Emmy Awards.

From Los Angeles Times

On Wednesday, they learned they would soon be out of work again, as the newspaper’s owner announced the Post-Gazette will be shutting down later this year.

From MarketWatch

Britain saw temperatures plunging with hundreds of schools shutting their doors for a third day Scotland, where the authorities warned some rural communities could be "cut off" by snow.

From Barron's

Japan ordered all its nuclear power plant reactors to be shut down in 2011 after a magnitude 9 earthquake and massive tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

From BBC

Schools in Aberdeenshire, Moray and Aberdeen will be shut on Wednesday, as well as around 65 schools in the Highlands where it is the first day of the new term.

From BBC

Related Words

• bar
• lock
• push
• seal